Fracture Mechanics: Cohesive Zone Model

This lecture covers the concept of crack-tip energy dissipation in brittle materials, the generalization for ductile materials, and the analysis of the cohesive zone model for fracture. It explains the determination of small-scale yielding, the length scales in the cohesive zone model, and the stress fields near a crack tip. The lecture also discusses the hierarchy of length scales in small-scale yielding and provides solutions to the center-crack problem using complex variable analysis. Additionally, it explores the dominance of the singular field near crack tips and presents atomistic results on stress fields ahead of cracks of various sizes.